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Stupid question but

tanyalevan
tanyalevan Posts: 182
edited December 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
What is calorie deficit?

Mine says 500...?

I am fairly new to all of this =(

Replies

  • im confused about calorie deficit too :frown:
  • noteve
    noteve Posts: 57
    Let's say you normally burn 2000 calories a day and eat a similar amount of calories. Eating with a 500 calorie deficit would mean you were eating 1500 calories a day, therefore burning 500 calories every day and losing weight.
  • madamepsychosis
    madamepsychosis Posts: 472 Member
    A calorie deficit means you're eating less than your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) - basically, what you burn in a day. 1lb = 3500 calories, so to lose a pound a week, you would eat at a deficit of 500 calories a day (500x7 = 3500). To lose 0.5lb a week, 250 calories and to lose 2lb a week you would eat at a deficit of 1000 calories. However, there's a lot more to these numbers. If you don't have much weight to lose, I would not recommend trying to lose 2lb a week, more like 0.5 - 1lb a week.
  • amnsetie
    amnsetie Posts: 666 Member
    "Calorie deficit" is the amount of calories per day less than your "Calories burned from daily activity" to achieve your stated goal for the week

    The important thing about this is you can eat all the calories showing on your food diary and still lose weight.
    You can do exercise to increase the calories you can eat each day.

    "0" or slightly in the green is what you are aiming for on your food diary. - This is what I can a "win" for the day.
    (when I weigh in lighter I call it "level up" - ok I'm a gamer)

    Tanya you have 500 calories leeway so you can be 500 in the red and maintain your weight - try not to do that cos the calories on this site are approximate.
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